removing glass panel from steel door?

I've have a new steel entry door, which cost a lot of $$$.

Unfortunately, it has its first dents in it

Looks like someone knocked REALLY hard or even punched it; there are about 4 knuckle-sized dents below the window panel.

Below is a link showing a rough representation what the door look likes:

My door looks roughly like this

I've called a ton of dent place (usually auto-body), and the response is usually "we can't PULL the dents out... we need to get them from behind"

One of them had a good idea to (1) remove the glass (2) remove any insulation where the dents are (3) work the dents out

Does this sound reasonable?

Can you take the glass out? If so, how?

Thanks

 

Most steel doors have a glass insert that is in a plastic frame. The plastic frame has 2 halves, and the glass is glued to the exterior half. The interior half usually has oval plastic plugs that cover the screws. To get these out, you take a deck screw and drive it into the center of the plug with a cordless drill driver. It ruins the plug, but as you drive the screw in, it forces the plug out.

Once all the screws are exposed, you can unscrew the screws, remove the inner half of the insert, (have someone hold the outside half in case it is not secured) and then try to push the glass (and outer half of the frame) out of the door. It may be sealed in with silicone (or worse) so you may need to carefully cut around the back side of the frame with a thin putty knife.

Once the glass is out, you'll find that the door skin is probably completely filled with foam.

Rather than going to all that work, what I'd probably suggest you do is go to a lumber yard, see if they have a temporary door slab that you could use. Take your door off it's hinges, and put the temporary door on. Or, plywood it shut, if you want. Take your door into a body shop and let them work on it there. They'll probably be able to fix it better there. If you want the door to look like new, they will probably have to do some filling, sanding and repainting. I almost guarantee that the dent won't just pop back out and look like new.

 

Wouldn't it be simpler to fill the dents with bondo?

 

That seems to be the common response I get

If the door wasn't finished, it'd be the no-brainer route

But it has a beautiful black finish from the factory.

I'd hate to go the bondo\repaint route if the finish is inferior

I'll have to weigh the options

Thanks all

 

Have you checked with any of those paintless dent repair shops?

With the exception of those, I would think any repair would require some sanding and painting [and possibly some filler]

 

the cheapest and easiest option is to fill the dents with a bondo type material after you have sanded it down and then hire a professional painter to repaint the door for you. He will sand the door down and make it look better than the factory could have done. Opening the door up will void your warrenty and the only way to get the insulation out is to rip it out and then what do you replace it with? Great Stuff is not designed for that application. That and it would probably bow your door out and then you would be right back where you started. Bite the bullet and you will not be disappointed with the results. Besides, do you really want to pay a body shop to work on a door? WHat experience do they have with front doors? Have they done it before and if so tell them you want to see the results or at least talk to someone. If they cannot provide either then they are blowing smoke up your doorbell.